Companion blog to Colors of Influence online magazine features news, announcements, shout-outs, updates, and other info relevant to communities of color
Remarks by President Obama during the visit of India's Prime Minister Dr. Singh:
"Beyond Asia, as the world's largest multiethnic democracy, as one of the world's fastest-growing economies, and as a member of the G20, India will play a pivotal role in meeting the major challenges we face today. And this includes my top economic priority, creating good jobs with good wages for the American people.
"So I believe that the relationship between the United States and India will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century, and this visit underscores the strengthening of that partnership, which I hope will continue throughout my presidency. That's why I've made it a priority to broaden the cooperation between our nations..."
From The Asian Reporter, V19, #45 (November 17, 2009), page 6.
Listening to community leaders speak about social corporate responsibility last week, I was struck by the wealth of history and experience present among our diverse communities in Oregon. The occasion was the first quarterly event of the Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce (APACC) of Oregon and Southwest Washington. It featured two community leaders who have served as beacons for Asian communities for many years.
June Arima Schumann, a founding director of the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center (ONLC) and co-chair of the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO), spoke about the importance of citizen engagement in ensuring our society works for all people. Coming of age in the 1960s against the backdrop of black America’s struggle for civil rights, she acknowledges that experiences in activism and civic involvement left a lasting impression on her life’s work.
Schumann’s leadership of ONLC ensured the growth and sustainability of many of the center’s programs that focus on the preservation and sharing of the history of Japanese Americans in Oregon. Although she retired recently, she remains active in a host of local organizations; chief among them is her leadership of the APANO board, a statewide advocacy group.
Pictured above: Jaime Lim, left, publisher of The Asian Reporter, and June Arima Schumann, co-chair of the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, spoke at the first Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce event.
$10 Million in Grants Aimed at Enrolling American Indian, Alaska Native Kids in Health Care Source: press release
HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced the availability of up to $10 million in grants to help reach American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) children who qualify for, but are not yet enrolled, in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). These new grants are part of a broader effort to find and enroll uninsured children who are eligible for Medicaid or CHIP but not enrolled. The Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA) set aside $100 million for fiscal years 2009-2013 expressly to help find and enroll eligible uninsured children, including $10 million specifically for Indian health providers.
As called for in CHIPRA, grants will be awarded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to applicants whose outreach, enrollment and retention efforts will target geographic areas with high rates of eligible but uninsured American Indian and Alaska Native children, who often live in isolated areas and are uninsured at higher-than-average rates.
“American Indian children are often uninsured, although many are eligible for Medicaid and CHIP,” Secretary Sebelius said. “These grants will help Tribes and Indian health providers reach out to children and families to ensure more children get the health care they need.”
Grants will be awarded to applicants that will be able to demonstrate increases in enrollment and improved retention of children already in Medicaid and CHIP. Grantees will report to CMS the number of new enrollees and those who retained coverage that are directly attributable to the grant activities. Grantees will also report activities they believe were the most effective in finding, enrolling and maintaining coverage for eligible children.
“States have been effective in enrolling over 28 million children in Medicaid and more than 7 million children in CHIP, but there are still millions of uninsured, low-income children who are not enrolled in these programs even though they are eligible” said Cindy Mann, the director of the CMS Center for Medicaid and State Operations. “We are looking forward to innovative grant proposals that will put new outreach, enrollment and renewal systems in place to ensure that uninsured Indian children get enrolled and stay enrolled for as long as they are eligible.”
Applications are due by Jan. 15, 2010, and the grants will be awarded on April 15. Grants will be available to:
The Indian Health Service;
Tribes and Tribal organizations operating a health program; and,
Urban Indian organizations operating a health program.
Click here for more information about the outreach and enrollment grants, go to . Questions about the grants may be directed to the CHIPRA grants mailbox
United Way of the Columbia-Willamette hosted a Community Health Issues Forum on Oct. 8, drawing together a wide range of community leaders and experts in the areas of youth mentoring, prisoner re-entry, and community-based health strategies. The breakout sessions followed Dr. Adewale Troutman's presentation on the importance of focusing on social determinants to advance health equity in all communities. Dr. Troutman is a nationally renowned expert on health equity issues, and has studied the confluence of race and class in impacting health outcomes in underserved communities.
Sharon Gary-Smith, Director at Cascadia Beahvioral Healthcare, led the session on "Mentoring Strategies To Build Strong Communities," which featured panelists Carolyn Becic, Executive Director, Oregon Mentors; Judy Strand, LCSW, Chief Operating Officer, Metropolitan Family Service; Nancy Ochoa, Program Director, Adelante Mujeres; and Gerald Deloney, Director of Program Advancement Self Enhancement, Inc.
Discussing "Rethinking Re-Entry: Pathways Away from Prisons," Jill Fugilister, co-director of the Coalition for a Livable Future served as facilitator. Panelists include Doug Cooper, Assistant Director, Mercy Corps Northwest; Erica Strachan, Loan and Reentry Program Support Officer, Mercy Corps Northwest; David Rogers, Executive Director of Partnership for Safety and Justice; and Debby Dover, Executive Director Second Step Housing.
Tricia Tillman, MPH, Director, Office of Multicultural Health and Services, State of Oregon facilitated the session on "Community-Based Health Strategies: The Promotores Model." Panelists are: Tera Couchman Wick, Program Development Advisor, Village Gardens - Janus Youth Programs; Helen Nash, Program Assistant, Village Gardens - Janus Youth Programs; Holden Leung, MSW, Executive Director, Asian Health and Service Center; and Ann Blaker, Board Member, Bienestar.
The Root, a daily online magazine that provides commentary on today's news from a variety of black perspectives, came out with a list of top 100 African-Americans who are doing the "most good in the world." Edited by renowned race expert Dr. Henry Louis Gates, the Harvard professor who made national news when he was arrested in his own home in Cambridge, Mass. this past summer.
Among those featured include: Joshua Dubois, Director, White House of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships; Donna Payne, Board Vice President, National Black Justice Coalition; Winston "Wole" Soboyejo, Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University; and Rabbi Alyssa Stanton, America's first Black female Rabbi. Click here to see who else made the list.
President Barack Obama is re-creating a federal panel to address concerns of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders and to work on improving their health, education and economic status.
Excerpts from Obama's remarks at today's signing of the executive order reinstating the White House Advisory Commission and Interagency Working Group:
"Our AAPI communities have roots that span the globe, but they embody a rich diversity, and a story of striving and success that are uniquely American.
But focusing on all of these achievements doesn't tell the whole story, and that's part of why we're here. It's tempting, given the strengths of the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, for us to buy into the myth of the "model minority," and to overlook the very real challenges that certain Asian American and Pacific Islander communities are facing: from health disparities like higher rates of diabetes and Hepatitis B; to educational disparities that still exist in some communities -- high dropout rates, low college enrollment rates; to economic disparities -- higher rates of poverty in some communities, and barriers to employment and workplace advancement in others."
Below is the full text of the executive order reinstating the AAPI initiative:
As part of its mission to build exceptional nonprofit boards and inspire board service, BoardSource is interested in learning more about the perspectives and experiences of board members of color.
Based in Washington, D.C., BoardSource provides knowledge and resources for nonprofit leaders through workshops, training, assessment tools, an extensive Web site, and a membership program. BoardSource is dedicated to advancing the public good by building exceptional nonprofit boards and inspiring board service.
If you are a person of color on the board of a nonprofit organization, please take a few minutes to provide your responses. Click here to go to the survey
By understanding the experiences of board members of color, BoardSource hopes to advance the cause of diversity, inclusion, and social justice in nonprofit boardrooms. The survey will ask you as a person of color to identify recruitment and boardroom experiences and practices that have successfully facilitated your best board experiences.
BoardSource will use the results of this survey to educate the nonprofit sector on the critical need to recruit and retain individuals from diverse backgrounds via our publications, curricula, tools, etc. and will release the survey results later this year. For questions, contact inclusion@boardsource.org.
Colors of Influence is a quarterly online magazine highlighting the accomplishments of business and civic leaders of color in the Northwest. Authored by CoI founder+editor Maileen Hamto, this companion blog reports on events, lectures, happenings and other developments relevant to communities of color.
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